, 1887-09-14
THEY STILL LIVE.
A Herd of 200 Buffalo Found in the
Big Horn Mountains.
Rare Sport Incident to Chasing the
Noble Game.
One Hunter Has Three Horses
GOred to Death in a Day.
How Scotch Grey Hounds Are
Utilized by Professionals.

A gentleman who arrived from the
North last evening was relating to a party
of friends in the Inter Ocean the rare
sport he had hunting buffalo on the
Powder and North Platte rivers and in
the Big Horn Mountain. | understood
the bison was rapidly becoming ex-
tinct, and that but very few of the ami
mails were to be found. In fact, it is
claimed hat there is but one small herd
in existence, and that it ranges on the
British possessions" i~nterposed an in.
credulous tenderfoot, as the Western
nan started to relate the particulars Of a
days chase after the timid and rapidly
disappearing game.
Perhaps you and some of these news
paper correspondents know more about
it than a man who saw a herd numbering
fully 200 not more than six weeks ago.
remarked the hunter as he gazed savagely
at the doubling importation.
The gentleman stated the remnant O
the herd to which he referred was still
grazing in the Big Horn mountains. The
majority Of the bunch had been slain by
his party and other hunters. Ninety.
six buffalo heads were shipped from
Billings, Mt, to Chicago on the Dist ult.
while twenty calves captured by enter
prising cowboys have been shipped tc
Buffalo Bills Wild West show in Lon.
don. and the Sells Bros, and Barnum
circuses.
The hunter who follows the game foI
pleasure alone prefers to pursue the ami
nal which he selects as his prey upon a
fleet horse, and pour lead.into the shaggy
hide of the large headed creatures until
they drop.
THE cowboy who acted as guide for
u party" said the retrospective nimrod
who was %recounting some of the advent,
ures of the trip last evening, was a dead
shot with a revolver of any description.
His favorite weapon for a buffalo hunt
was a 3S calibre Smith & Wesson five
shooter. His ardent admirers in the
wealthy party he accompanied presented
him with all sorts of firearms, from an
elephant rife to a saddle carbine, but the
boy faithfully chung to his chosen engine
of destruction, which, by the way, was g
magnificent thing in its line, being golC
mounted and pearl handled.
1T was a sight well worth travelling
across the ocean to see him bag a bison
His method was to force his horse along
side a savage old bull and place a bulle'
or two in the animals heart. He seldom
used more than two cartridges for q
single buffalo, while Iihave known sports,
men who have hunted in the jungles Of
India and Africa to pump half a pound
Of lead into the carcass of a buffalo before
the animal fell. My idea as to the prope,
manner in which the brutes should b.
captured is to ride within 200 Or 3Gt
yards of a herd, dismount, select you
target and kill it with a good heavy rifle.
That method is accompanied by enough
excitement and danger to satisfy the com
mon run of hunters. This thi M
of riding across the prairie at a breaknecl
pace beside an angry and excited sharp
horned buffalo, is not without a decided
element of danger. The game is liabl,
to turn the tables and become the huntel
instead of the hunted at any moment. A
member of our party had three horsel
gore1 to death beneath him in a singl,
day. Then again your mount is liable t
place a foot in a pra :" dog hole at any
moment The rider who escapes unin
iured in a case of this kind is fully war
ranted in tackling a Bengal tiger with
caseknife. A young E%nglishman, with
more bravery than either judgment o.
experience, was nearly killed by allowing
a buffalo to collide with his saddle animal
A kind providence permitted the cockney
to escape with a broken leg and a dislo
Gated shoulder.
THE professional hunter, the mar
who sIaughters the buffalo for the mar
ketable price Of his head and hide, re
turns to the ancient and well nigh forgot
ten modus operandi of our respected
forefathers in accomplishing the desired
object. Their principal auxiliary in the
chase is the strong, active and fleet Scotch
greyhound. These dogs seem to regard
the buffalo as a natural enemy, and re-
quire no urging to fix their sharp fangs il
the nose OF a frightened bison. A hunt
Of this sort must of necessity take place
in the mountains, and the sportsmor
often follow a herd TOR many days before &
favorable locality is reached.
Arriving in the hills the CANNES are
uni cached and rapidly and sagaciously fal
upon their victims with relentless fury.
They always select a precipitous hillside
for the final attack, and closing theil
strong jaws on the nose Of a buffalo soor
bring the animal to the ground with ter.
rife force. In nine cases out of ten the
buffalo's neck will be broken. The head
of the animal is very large and heavy and
an unnatural weight on that portion Of
their anatomy will soon rapsize them. In
case it is impossible to force the animals